Technical Engien swops ?

[paulhumphries]

I've just bought cheap (£103 off eBay) an R reg 1.4 Brava with engine fault.
Basically I want a "banger" that I can run around in for a few months until I complet restoration of another vehicle.
If I can sort out the engine problem then I'll give it to my son as all the oher familly cars are too high insurance groups for him to use.
It's strongly thought that the car has a warped head so fingers crossed a skim and new gasket will sort but if not a replacement engine woudl be fitted instead of chucking money at the original.
As everybody will tell me the 1.4 is useless and I'd be far better off buying a 1.2 so this has got me thinking.
Anyone done an engine swop on a Brava ? 1.4 to 1.2 or diesel ?

Thanks.

Paul Humphries.

 

[GhostWKD]

im afraid i cant help much but will do my best to my knowledge of bravo/a's, from what i've read the 1.4 is alot more uneconomical than the 1.2 however something to bear in mind is that if you have a 1.4 that has been changed to a 1.2 the insurance may still be the same if not more expensive purely because it doesnt have the original engine (or one like it) it may also require a different ecu and/or wiring loom if you are swapping engines, so it may prove to be more expensive than fixing the current engine,

hope this helps somewhat and sorry i cannot be of more help
oh and welcome to the forum

 

[Helz]

Hello and welcome

What Alex says about being more economical (without any loss of power, in fact a slight gain) is right. It does have a newer style ECU, and a very different engine layout, not sure about the wiring though. I would hazard a guess that fixing the current engine would be cheaper although running costs over time may balance it out costwise if it were technically posible. As to whether it is practically possible, I wouldn't like to say.

 

[Steven]

Fiat dropped the 1.4 in favour of the 1.2. The 1.4 is the worst Fiat engine in years, it's uneconomical and prone to blowing the head gasket. Gearboxes are also prone to going on these cars. Don't throw too much money at it. Just goes to show that it pays to do a little research into the car you want to buy before you buy it!

 

[Helz]

Yes but he did get it for little over £100, that's some bargain no matter how rubbish the engine is.

 

[sammiboo]

Like as the others have said the 1.4 was dropped for the 1.2 but the engine bay is the same size and if you can get one i would reccomend the 1.6 16v engine, this has a far better perfomance than the 1.2 and 1.4, insanely enough, it was cheaper for me to insure a 1.6 than it was for a 1.4

at buying the car for just over £100 it shouldnt really be a problem to spend a little more for a bigger engine, if your going to replace the engine anyway